Entries for the ROL/OWL are prepared voluntarily by ornithologists around the world each of whom covers one or more serials in their fields of special interest. Currently, some 100-140 abstractors regularly scan about 500-700 periodicals, making this a major collaborative effort by and for the ornithological community. 

The plan is for Abstractors send their material to Regional Coordinators, who later forward the records to the Senior Editor for the central database. After further checking  the data are released to the active database for access at no cost by users worldwide. It is important that Abstractors read the guidelines for data preparation carefully before submitting their material.

Data can be submitted in one of two ways

• Data entered into a spreadsheet using the MS Excel template provided. The spreadsheet is emailed to the regional editor as an attachment
• Online data entry into the database

If you would like to become a regular contributor, please contact Jay Sheppard (below) to arrange which sources you should cover. We are looking for an old world coordinator - any volunteers?